Monument record MDO7122 - Bowl barrow, one of the Roke Down Group, Bere Regis

Bronze Age bell barrow reported in 1970, being 80 feet in diameter and 1.5 feet in height. A ditch is visible as a crop-mark 14 feet from the base of the mound.

(Centred SY 822967) Tumuli (NR) (three shown) (1)

Three round barrows on Roke Down: (2)

'A' - (93) - SY 82099674 Bell (?) barrow, 80ft diameter and 1 1/2ft high with ditch visible as a cropmark 14ft from base of mound.
'B' - (94) - SY 82279684 Bell (?) barrow, 55ft diameter and 9 ins high with ditch visible as a cropmark around the northern half, 9ft from the base of the mound.
'C' - (95) - SY 82309674. Ditched bowl (?), 64ft diameter and 1 1/2ft high with ditch visible as a cropmark at base of mound. Grinsell lists all three barrows as bowl-type. (3)

'A' SY 82099675. Barrow, diameter 24.0 metres, height 0.3 metres. It is used as a dumping-ground but is still visible as a low mound, partly destroyed on the east side. Resurveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D.
'B'. SY 82269684, and 'C' - SY 82309673. These barrows were not inspected closely because of crops,but appear from a distance to be generally as described. Revised from R.C.H.M. measurements at 1:2500 on M.S.D. (4)

A rapid examination of air photography (5a) suggests the presence of two further possible round barrow sites, of Prehistoric or Roman date, visible as ring ditch cropmarks at:-
D - SY 8236 9681
E - SY 8241 9676
Barrows B and C are also visible as ring ditches. (5)

Scheduled. A group of 3 barrows ('A' (SY 8208 9674), 'B' (SY 8226 9684), and 'C' (SY 8230 9673)). 2 are bell barrows ('A' and 'B') and te third is a bowl barrow ('C'). The 2 bell barrows each have a central mound composed of earth, flint and chalk and measure a maximum of 18 to 23 metres in diameter and 0.35 to 0.75 metres in height. Each mound is surrounded, firstly by a berm which has been obscured by ploughing, and then by a ditch, which has become gradually infilled over time. One of these barrows was partially excavated in the 19th century. The bowl barrow measures up to 26 metres in diameter and around 0.45 metres high. Aerial photographic evidence shows that it was also surrounded by a ditch at one time. This group forms part of a wider group of 11 barrows, which together form a round barrow cemetery on Roke Down. (6)

National Record of the Historic Environment, 455867 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 09-Mar-01 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 89 (Monograph). SDO132.

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘Roke Down Group (SY 89 NW), six barrows in two clusters of three, the westernmost including two probable bells. In arable on S. slopes of Down near 200 ft. contour; all except (96) among 'Celtic' fields with (93–5) probably at field angles (see Ancient Field Group (30)). All have probably been opened. Accounts exist of six excavations hereabouts but only one can be related with certainty to a specific barrow (97), though the account in Hutchins of even this is confused (Hutchins I, 143–4; Warne, C.T.D., cpf, no. 2 and 17 n.; Payne, Durden Catalogue (1892), 12–18; Abercromby II, 39 and fig. 375; Ant. J. XIII (1933), 443). … (93) Bell (?) (82099674). Diam. 80 ft., ht. 1½ ft. Ditch visible as crop-mark 14 ft. from base of mound.’

Miller, Andrew, 1993, RCHME: AP Primary Recording Project, 16-FEB-1993 (Unpublished document). SWX1708.

Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 15-MAY-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

Record last edited

Dec 5 2023 9:30AM